Ammunition handling system

ABSTRACT

A linkless storage system for cased ammunition having an inner, articulated, transverse, endless chain, of longitudinally extending carriers operating within a stationary, conforming, outer, multiturn, channel, and a stationary rounds scooping device.

nited States Patent [191 Folsom et al.

[ Oct. 23, 1973 AMMUNITION HANDLING SYSTEM [75] lnventors: Lawrence R. Folsom, Charlotte;

Victor R. Gardy, Shelburne; Gerard H. Donovan, Essex Junction, all of [73] Assignec: General Electric Company,

Burlington, Vt.

[22] Filed: Oct. 4, 1972 [Zll Appl. No.1294,851

[52] U.S. Cl. 89/33 D, 89/34, 198/30,

198/211, 221/80 [51] int. Cl. F4ld 9/02 [58] Field of Search 89/33 D, 33 BB, 33 BC,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,088,378 5/1963 Boodreau 89/33 D Primary ExaminerStephen C. Bentley Att0rneyBailin L. Kuch et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A linklcss storage system for cased ammunition having an inner, articulated, transverse, endless chain, of Iongitudinally extending carriers operating within a stationary, conforming, outer, multiturn, channel, and a stationary rounds scooping device.

11 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUBT 23 I975 3.7661323 'SHEET 10F 5 PATENTEU GET 2 3 I875 SHEET 2 [1F 5 PATENTEBUBIZIS I975 3. 766. 823

SHEET 30F 5 l llllllllllh PATENTED UB1 2 3 1975 SHEET 5 [IF 5 AMMUNITION HANDLING SYSTEM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a system for storing and for feeding articles at a high velocity; and is embodied in a system for storing and feeding linkless rounds of ammunition to a high rate of fire machine gun.

2. Prior Art High rate of fire machine guns were initially disclosed by R.J. Gatling in U.S. Pat. No. 47,631 issued May 9, 1865, and others subsequently. Rounds of ammunition were loosely fed by gravity from a hopper through a throat to the bolts of the gun. An improved hopper was disclosed by L.F. Bruce in U.S. Pat. No. 247,158 issued Sept. 20, 1881. Belted ammunition was disclosed by F.L. Bailey in U.S. Pat. No. 173,751 issued Feb. 22, 1876; and belted ammunition for Gatling guns was disclosed by CM. Broderick et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 504,516 issued Sept. 5, 1893. Since belted ammunition is pulled along by means of the belt it is feasible to store the belt in a container of any configuration, so long as the belt can be freely pulled out of it. Positive linkless feeding for a Gatling gun was disclosed by 1.6. Accles in U.S. Pat. No. 290,622 issued Apr. 22, 1890.

The first modern Gatling gun was disclosed by H. McOtto in U.S. Pat. No. 2,849,921 issued Sept. 2, 1958. A modern, linked ammunition, cylindrical drum type storage system for the modern Gatling gun was disclosed by GE. Houston et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,833,182 issued May 6, 1958. Now, conventionally, Gatling guns are either: l fed directly with linked ammunition stored in layers in a rectangular ammunition can or in a cylindrical drum type storage system as disclosed by EA. Meyer et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,923 and stripped of links as it enters the gun by a feederstripper of the type disclosed by R.W. I-Ienshaw et al. in US. Pat. No. 3,333,506 issued Aug. 1, 1967; or (2) are fed without links by an endless conveyor which is supplied by a cylindrical drum of the types disclosed by B. Darsie et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 1,935,914 issued May 10, 1960 and E.W. Panicci et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,415 issued July 25, 1961. The external guide or chuting of the conveyor may be of the flexible type disclosed by R. Meunier in U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,452 issued Mar. 7, 1967; and the internal carrier or chain may be of the type disclosed by R.G. Kirkpatrick in U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,221 issued Feb. 25, 1969. A production version of the M61, 20MM Vulcan gun with a linkless,

cylindrical drum type storage system is shown on page 161 of the Gatling Gun" by P. Wahl et al., Arco Publishing Co., Inc., 1965. Linked rounds of ammunition are fed through and stripped by the feeder, the rounds passing through the gun and into one end of the storage drum. Subsequently, the stored rounds pass out of the other end of the storage drum and into the gun; the rounds are fired and the cases are returned into said one end of the drum. The storage drum includes: (1) an inner, continuous, helical partition, defining a single, multiturn, helical slot, which rotates about a longitudinal axis with (2) a stationary outer annulus having a plurality of longitudinal partitions, defining a plurality of longitudinal, parallel slots, and (3) a scoop disk which rotates 360 past each of the stationary longitudinal partitions to extract rounds therefrom and to carry them to a fixed entry station of a conveyor. The bases of the rounds are disposed in the longitudinal slots and the noses of the rounds are disposed in the helical slot. Rotation of the helical partitions cams the rounds longitudinally along in their respective longitudinal slots. It will be appreciated that a cylindrical storage drum efficiently utilizes only a congruent cylindrical volume of space; and requires some minimum diam eter which is a function of the length of the round to permit the operation of the rotating scoop disk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a linkless storage system which is more efficient in its utilization of a rectangular volume of space than the cylindrical storage drum, and which does not require the relatively large minimum diameter which is required by a scoop disc.

A feature of this invention is the provision of a linkless storage system for rounds of ammunition having an inner, articulated, transverse, endless chain, of longitudinally extending carriers operating within a stationary, conforming, outer, multiturn, channel and a stationary rounds scooping device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING These and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a schemtic diagram of a weapon system embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective schematic illustrating the ammunition storage system incorporated in the weapon system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is an end view in perspective of the storage system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the storage system of FIG. 3; showing the front-end cap, forward of the partition assemblies;

FIG. 5 is a detail transverse view of FIG. 2 showing a portion of the articulated chain of longitudinal carriers;

FIG. 6 is a detail longitudinal view of FIG. 2 showing a portion of the outer partition and a portion of a longitudinal partition;

FIG. 7 is a schematic of the Exit/Loader Unit in the loading mode; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic of the Exit/Loader Unit in the feeding/firing mode.

THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The weapon system, shown in FIG. 1, includes a Gatling type cannon 10, driven by a gun drive 12, and driving a feeder 14 via a synchronized clutch 16. The clutch may be of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,118 issuedto L.l(. Wetzel on May 11, 1971. The

feeder synchronously drives an ammunition handling system 18 which includes an obround drum 20, a stationary exit/loader unit 22, a rounds feed chute 24, and a conveyor element return chute 26. If additional power is required to drive the drum, a booster motor and gear box system 28 may be provided.-

The obround drum 20, shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6 includes an endless chain of longitudinally extending carriers 30. Each carrier 30 has an transverse crosssection adapted to receive the forward end of a round of cased ammunition 32, specifically a V-shaped mouth portion 34, a rectangular neck portion 36 having an interior pad portion 38, a hinge knuckle portion 40, and a V- shaped closed portion 42. Immediately adjacent carriers are coupled together by a hinge pin 44 passing through their mutually aligned knuckle portions. The chain 44 of carriers passes around and is driven by two pairs of sprockets 46 and 48. The pair of sprockets 46 being fixed on a shaft 50, and the pair of sprockets 48 being fixed on a shaft 52. Each sprocket has a plurality of notches 54 in its periphery, each adapted to receive an end of a hinge pin 44.

The obround drum also includes an outer wall 56, which supports an elongated, U-shaped in cross section, multiturn, continuous, channel 58 which conforms to the shape of the chain of carriers. Each turn of the channel 58 includes a base portion 60 fixed to the wall 56, a forward-side portion 62, an aft-side portion 64, and an inner, resilient track-strip 66 fixed to the base portion 60. A rib 68 is formed in the portion 62, and a rib 70 is formed in the portion 64, to provide interior bearing surfaces for the rounds of ammunition.

The intersection of each of the carriers 30 with each of the turns of the channel 58 defines a cell which is adapted to receive one round of ammunition. In an exemplary embodiment there are 38 carriers 30 and 27 turns to the channel 58 providing 1,026 cells. As the chain of carriers 30 rotates, the cells advance along the turns of the channel 58.

As seen in FIG. 4, a plurality of guide tracks are provided to control the movement of the ends of the hinge pins 44. A pair of straps 72 are respectively spaced from and over the respective pair of sprockets 46, and a pair of straps 74 are respectively spaced from and overlie the pair of sprockets 48. Integral with the straps is an upper pair of C-shaped channels 76, which respectively extend between the pairs of sprockets 46, 48 and a lower pair of C-shaped channels 78 which respectively extend between the pairs of sprockets 46, 48. A lacuna 80 is provided in the front channel 78, adjacent the Exit Loader unit 22, at the front end of the first turn of the channel 58 to permit the passage of rounds of ammunition into and from the drum.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 7 and 8, the Exit/Loader Unit 22 comprises a sprocket 90 for engaging rounds of ammunition in the linked belt 92 during the loading mode, for pulling them through a chute 93 past a T-bar stripper 94 and out of their respective links 96, and for handing the stripped rounds 98 to an idler sprocket 100. The idler sprocket 100 hands the rounds 98 to a scoop sprocket 102 which is synchronized with the chain of longitudinal partitions 30 and feeds the rounds along a guide 103 sequentially into each storage cell. A pivoted gete element 104 is swung adjacent the sprocket 90 for guiding the flow of rounds 98 from the sprocket 90 to the sprocket 100. A sprocket 106 serves as the turnaround for the endless chain 108 of conveyor elements as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,429,221, supra, and is coupled to the same shiftable linkage as the gate element 104, so that when the gate element is adjacent the sprocket 90 the sprocket 100 is shifted away from the sprocket 100. The shift may be either transverse or longitudinal. A chute 110 is provided to guide the stripped, but still sequentially interlocked links 96 out of the loader. In the firing mode, the gate element 104 is swung adjacent the sprocket 100, and the sprocket 106 is swung adjacent to and in synchronism with the sprocket 100. Each round, in turn is scooped out of its cell by the scoop guide 103 and the sprocket 102 which operate in the space between the carriers and the channel, is handed off to the idler sprocket 100, carried past the guide element 104 and handed off to a conveyor element 108 on the sprocket 1106, for conveyance through the feed chute 24 to the gun.

While that end of each longitudinal carrier 30 which is remote from the Exit Loader Unit is provided with an end wall to maintain the mutual spacing between the two side walls of the partition, the other end of which is adjacent the Exit Loader unit and serves as the passageway for the rounds of ammunition must be left open for this function. When the chain of carriers is being driven, there is a tendency, due to inertia, for the carriers in the runs between the pairs of sprockets to be compressed transversely. However, as the initial rounds are inserted in each carrier, they serve as wedges to keep the carrier fully open. Thus the carrier need only be made stiff enough to overcome the inertia due to the mass of the chain of carrier and one annulus of loaded cells; after that, the rounds themselves provide the stiffness.

Ideally, to minimize the moment of inertia, the hinge pin 40 should be spaced from the tip of the carrier 30 so as to be at the center of gravity of the carrier when it is fully loaded. However, to minimize the turning radius of the partition, the hinge pin 40 should be as close to the tip of the carrier as possible. The exemplary embodiment demonstrates a compromise between these two criteria.

We claim:

1. An article handling apparatus comprising:

a first system including a movable inner, articulated,

transverse, endless chain of longitudinally extending carriers, each of said carriers for supporting a column of articles;

a second system including a stationary, outer, multiturn, channel, each turn of said channel encompassing said chain of carriers, for supporting an annular row of articles, each row of articles including one article from each column, the intersection of each carrier and each turn of said channel defining a cell for supporting an article,

motive means coupled to said chain of carriers for providing relative motion between said chain of carriers and said channel and, thereby, longitudinal translation of said cells in their respective carriers; and

stationary hand-off means for extracting articles from their respective cells.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

each of said chain of carriers has a front end portion;

said multiturn channel has a front end portion;

at periodic intervals during movement of said chain of carriers the front end portion of said channel and the front end portion of one of said carriers defines the terminal cell, which is the last cell along the front-most turn of said channel wherein said channel is effective to support a round in a carrier, and the front end portion of the immediately preceding carrier in the direction of movement of said chain of carriers defines the post-terminal cell wherein said channel no longer supports a round; and

said hand-off means includes means to engage an article in said post terminal cell and to extract it from its carier.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein:

said hand-off means includes a sprocket, and a scoop-guide.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

said hand-off means includes means for inserting articles into their respective cells.

5. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein:

said hand-off means includes means to receive articles and to insert such articles seriatim into their respective cells.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

each carrier of said chain of carriers is hinged to its immediately adjacent carrier along a longitudinal axis.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein;

said first system further includes a first longitudinally extending axis a first pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart, rotary means, supported for rotation on said first axis;

a second, longitudinally extending axis, parallel to and transversely spaced from said first axis,

a second pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart, rotary means, supported for rotation on said second axis;

said chain of carriers being disposed to encompass said first and second axes, between said first pair of rotary means, and between said second pair of rotary means;

a first plurality of driven means, each coupled to said chain of carriers at a respective hinge axis, for being engaged by said front rotary means of said first axis and said front rotary means of said second axis;

second plurality of driven means, each coupled to said chain of carriers at a respective hinge axis, for being engaged by said rear rotary means of said first axis and said rear rotary means of said second axis;

said motive means being coupled to at least one of said rotary means for mediately driving the thereto engaged driven meansf 8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein:

each of said rotary means has a plurality of uniformly spaced apart recess in its periphery, and

each of said driven means includes a projection for interengaging a respective recess.

9. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein:

said first system further includes a first longitudinally extending shaft,

a first pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart sprockets fixed on said first shaft;

a second longitudinally extending shaft,

a second pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart sprockets fixed on said second shaft said chain of carriers being disposed to encompass said first and second axes, between said first pair of sprockets, and between said second pair of sprockets;

a plurality of hinge rods, each coupled to and between said respective two carriers and serving as the pivot therebetween, and extending longitudinally fore and aft of said carriers to interengage the cutouts of said sprockets;

said motive means being coupled to and rotating said first and second shafts and their fixed thereto sprockets, and said sprockets engaging a plurality of hinge rods and thereby translating said chain of carriers around said shafts.

10. An apparatus, according to claim 9 wherein:

a front pair of spaced apart channels extend between said front sprockets, and

another pair of spaced apart channels extend between said rear sprockets,

each of said channels for receiving and guiding the ends of respective hinge rods travelling between sprockets.

11. An apparatus according to claim 9 adapted to handle cased rounds of ammunition, wherein:

each of said carriers has a transverse cross-section which is V-shaped at its inward end, and

each turn of said channel has a longitudinal crosssection which is U-shaped. 

1. An article handling apparatus comprising: a first system including a movable inner, articulated, transverse, endless chain of longitudinally extending carriers, each of said carriers for supporting a column of articles; a second system including a stationary, outer, multiturn, channel, each turn of said channel encompassing said chain of carriers, for supporting an annular row of articles, each row of articles including one article from each column, the intersection of each carrier and each turn of said channel defining a cell for supporting an article, motive means coupled to said chain of carriers for providing relative motion between said chain of carriers and said channel and, thereby, longitudinal translation of said cells in their respective carriers; and stationary hand-off means for extracting articles from their respective cells.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein: each of said chain of carriers has a front end portion; said multiturn channel has a front end portion; at periodic intervals during movement of said chain of carriers the front end portion of said channel and the front end portion of one of said carriers defines the terminal cell, which is the last cell along the front-most turn of said channel wherein said channel is effective to support a round in a carrier, and the front end portion of the immediately preceding carrier in the direction of movement of said chain of carriers defines the post-terminal cell wherein said channel no longer supports a round; and said hand-off means includes means to engage an article in said post terminal cell and to extract it from its carrier.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein: said hand-off means includes a sprocket, and a scoop-guide.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein: said hand-off means includes means for inserting articles into their respective cells.
 5. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein: said hand-off means includes means to receive articles and to insert such articles seriatim into their respective cells.
 6. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein: each carrier of said chain of carriers is hinged to its immediately adjacent carrier along a longitudinal axis.
 7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein; said first system further includes a first longitudinally extending axis a first pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart, rotary means, supported for rotation on said first axis; a second, longitudinally extending axis, parallel to and transversely spaced from said first axis, a second pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart, rotary means, supported for rotation on said second axis; said chain of carriers being disposed to encompass said first and second axes, between said first pair of rotary means, and between said second pair of rotary means; a first plurality of driven means, each coupled to said chain of carriers at a respective hinge axis, for being engaged by said front rotary means of said first axis and said front rotary means of said second axis; second plurality of driven means, each coupled to said chain of carrIers at a respective hinge axis, for being engaged by said rear rotary means of said first axis and said rear rotary means of said second axis; said motive means being coupled to at least one of said rotary means for mediately driving the thereto engaged driven means.
 8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein: each of said rotary means has a plurality of uniformly spaced apart recess in its periphery, and each of said driven means includes a projection for interengaging a respective recess.
 9. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein: said first system further includes a first longitudinally extending shaft, a first pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart sprockets fixed on said first shaft; a second longitudinally extending shaft, a second pair of front and rear, longitudinally spaced apart sprockets fixed on said second shaft said chain of carriers being disposed to encompass said first and second axes, between said first pair of sprockets, and between said second pair of sprockets; a plurality of hinge rods, each coupled to and between said respective two carriers and serving as the pivot therebetween, and extending longitudinally fore and aft of said carriers to interengage the cutouts of said sprockets; said motive means being coupled to and rotating said first and second shafts and their fixed thereto sprockets, and said sprockets engaging a plurality of hinge rods and thereby translating said chain of carriers around said shafts.
 10. An apparatus, according to claim 9 wherein: a front pair of spaced apart channels extend between said front sprockets, and another pair of spaced apart channels extend between said rear sprockets, each of said channels for receiving and guiding the ends of respective hinge rods travelling between sprockets.
 11. An apparatus according to claim 9 adapted to handle cased rounds of ammunition, wherein: each of said carriers has a transverse cross-section which is V-shaped at its inward end, and each turn of said channel has a longitudinal cross-section which is U-shaped. 